[GThound]

Thank you @Autoholic for the picture

If the oil pump cover is a good place for the crankshaft position sensor, seems like I could just TIG weld an aluminum plate with a hole drilled in it to that location. I just got a TIG welder last year and am always looking for fun little projects like that.

For reference, here is a picture of the new oil pump cover available at Opel GT Source for around $30. I tried to rotate them so they are somewhat point in the same direction. So you could imagine the extra aluminum in roughly the 2:00 position.

 

[GThound]

I don't think it would take much to adapt readily available trigger wheels to the stock crank pully. And just a simple bracket to mount a sensor with a threaded body..

Sounds like you know how to make things happen! So, 3 questions for you:

1) where would you get the steel Reluctor wheel? I think I have seen them at DIY auto tune for right around $30 in 3 different diameters, one of which was 6 3/4” which would probably be the right size for an Opel GT

2) how would you attach the Reluctor wheel to the pulley? Weld it? Pin it? Bolt it?

3) where would you attach the mounting bracket? I don’t know the internal passages of the engine so would be hesitant to drill and tap and hit one (although I love to drill and tap) —- we were typing at the same time, so you answer this one above .

 

[GThound]

If someone really needs a 2.4 timing cover and oil pump, I’d sell it.

Charles might be able to get a 2.4 crank pulley with the trigger wheel. The CPS is pretty standard.

Thank you for the generous offer. I am in contact with Charles and he is going to check his inventory for me to see what he has available.

 

[GThound]

If only someone had designed an aluminum crankshaft pulley with a ledge to add a CPS wheel. And designed the corresponding CPS wheel. And designed a holder for the CPS that bolts onto the outside of the oil pump cover.

That would be awesome

Love it! I have read the big thread on the topic. So, so you happen to have any laying around that you would sell?

 

[GThound]

Oooh, I want one! Thank you for the specs

 

[GThound]

So, will this trigger wheel work from DIYautotune? At 6.75” it is just slightly larger in diameter than the stock 6.3” diameter trigger wheel. It seems to have the right number of teeth and the price is right.

 

[GThound]

I managed to pull the spare motor today. I think this wheel will fit in there. I'll do some double checking tomorrow and let you know for certain.

Wow, way to go on the engine pull. I wish I still had my spare motor. Since the 6.75” diameter looks promising I did a quick 3D design (<10 min) to print (3 hrs) and confirm fit before ordering the 6.75" 36-1 tooth wheel from DIY autotune. The center hub was included in the design just so I can try to rest it on the pulley nut to check the test fit, since my engine is in my car!

 

[GThound]

….3 hrs later
Here is the 3D printed ABS 6.75” wheel off of the 3D printer.

I stuck the printed trigger wheel over the crank pulley mounting bolt on the front of my 1.9l Opel GT and it appears there are interference issues that may or may not be able to resolve.

if located on the front of the crank pulley, The trigger wheel hits the water pump / fan pulley. This should not be a surprise, because the pulleys are aligned to make the belt aligned. Maybe a spacer would work?

If mounted on the back side of the crankshaft pulley, the 6.75” trigger wheel looks like it would hit the oil filter.

So now I know why you were trying to get the 5.75” Reluctor trigger wheel from Europe.

Still, I have not yet given up, just more problems to solve. And I am assessing from weird angles with a flashlight, so hard to see what is really going on.

 

[GThound]

Need to pull it off and get a good look at it to see how to attach the trigger wheel...

Sounds like a good plan. Let me know what you think. I would love to make the 6.75” wheel work since it is readily available.

get my big cnc mill back up and running

Sounds awesome! I have been dreaming of CNC.

What are you running for a 3d printer ??

It is a QIDI Printer. I wanted to print ABS so it is full enclosure with heated bed. It the best printer I could find under $500 price point.

 

[GThound]

Hope the 6.75” diameter works. I have a metal one in hand now! Hope I wasn’t too impatient.

 

[GThound]

That puts my mini mill to shame. I have enjoyed it so much more since I added Digital Read Outs. That said, itso much better than my prior capability. I spend way too much time trying to figure out how to figure and machine medium sized parts in a mini mill. Which I had more Y directions

So, now my question is how to make a 45 mm hole in the trigger wheel without a lathe. Any ideas? I think I am going to buy a 45 mm hole saw.

BTW, I was able to get the crank pulley off by putting car in 4th gear with parking brake on and a 19mm wrench. It made quite a loud snap when it broke free. But then I was able to get it the rest of the way off just by hand.

 

[GThound]

Wow, that is some enviable equipment.
thanks for the ideas. I don’t have an indexing Boring head or rotating table. But those Are cool ideas. Thank you for sharing. I will explore them.

What I do have is a rotating base for my vise and a circle cutter with a carbide cutter. I am not sure if the vertical support on my mini mill is rigid enough for those operations.

it was be so easy with CNC. I can envision what I want to do, sort of a helical tool path. But not viable by hand.

 

[GThound]

Wow, that is some serious equipment!

I just realized that I have an R8 fly cutter and it happens to be 1.75”. So that is 44.45 mm. I wonder if that would work for my 45 mm hole. Or would it be better to get an inexpensive boring head from eBay?

My crank pulley was absolutely filthy. I might have had an oil leak there. I am hot soaking it tonight and trying to get the grease off of it. I read that some RTV silicone behind the big washer can help stop oil leaking at the keyway.

also, I noticed that there is a little ridge at the very bottom of the 45 mm hub that bumps out to something like 46.4mm. Does yours have that little ridge too?

 

[GThound]

That you for sharing the approach and that it worked. That is encouraging!

what would be helpful / barriers to this approach.

1. Lack of information….part number or list of specific vehicles (model year etc)
2. what is the outside diameter of the Ford wheel? I have seen many picture, but no info on the outside diameter
3. what is the inside diameter? (same issue as above, only pictures, no data as most people just replace a Ford wheel with a Ford wheel vs retrofit)
4. I did not realize until just recently that the opel pulley had hub on it. I just pulled my yesterday and David pulled his a few days ago.
5. I don’t have a lathe
6. What is a precision way to increase hub center to Opel 45 mm that can be done in home shop without a lathe.
   
   I may very well have landed on the Ford wheel if there were a bunch of different trigger wheel options laying on a table in front of me and I had a tape measure / dimensions an Opel pulley in hand to see what fit and price tags on them.

 

[GThound]

So, here is how I decided to get rid of the little ridge on the pulley hub without a lathe. I did a quick 3D design and print of a key and hub with a hole in the middle for 1/2 inch bolt. Then chucked up the bolt in the drill press and held up a file to the ridge while spinning a lowest speed (220 RPM). I don’t have a lot of tool pressure, but it is making progress. The first cut went from diameter of 46.4 mm down to 46mm.

After several more minutes with the file, the lip is pretty much gone, although there is a little taper at the bottom.

I will leave it now as is until final fitting with the Reluctor trigger wheel once I get the inside hole bored to 45 mm.

On a related note, after some research on boring heads for the milling machine I ordered a cheap one. Looks like a nifty and handy tool that will really increase my capabilities. It will be here Tuesday.

 

[GThound]

I love 3D printing. And now that I am proficient in 3D CAD I can kick out a design in 10 minutes.

had a similar problem, where the drive gears in the mini mill broke. Strange that they were just nylon gears. So I designed and 3D printed drive gears and I am back in business without having to wait for gears to ship to me.

i have been using ABS for these types of parts, but just orders a role of Nylon as it is supposed to be more chemical resistant as well as flexible

 

[GThound]

John Warga (aka "ftl" ) who is a member of our Calgary Opel Co-op is building a stroker 2.4 (I am helping in a small way) and running a MegaSquirt port-injection EFI system with the '75 intake but Honda injectors, and the MS controls a distributor-less Ford EDIS- based ignition system. He used a standard Ford 36-1 trigger wheel, welded to the back of the stock Opel pulley. The wheel is almost exactly the same size as the pulley. The EDIS pick-up is mounted by a custom machined bit attached to the oil pump bolts, in pretty much the stock Opel 2.4 CIH location. The engine is waiting on his Opel GT body to be restored, so still a year or two away from the road.

He also MegaSquirted his wife's MGB (GM throttle-body injector), also Ford EDIS based, but mounted the trigger wheel in front. That car has been running like that for a year and some.

He will chime in shortly with photos and words...

Thanks for the photos. This is very well done. Some great ideas and execution!

 

[GThound]

It seems that the trigger wheel is offset from pulley by about 1.5 mm. Does your prototype have a the similar gap?

What is the best approach to deal with the gap?

1) leave it offset 1.5 mm
2) increase bore on trigger wheel to 56.8 mm so that the trigger wheel drops to pulley
3) shave down the wider hub at the base so that trigger wheel rests on pulley
4) some other clever option?

In order to space the trigger wheel from the oil filter casting, it seems it would be best to get the trigger wheel flush with the pulley? Then weld the trigger wheel to the hub from the back?

 

[GThound]

Very nice article on the Ford trigger wheel. That was quite helpful. I guess what I really need to figure out before I start to weld is how to orient the missing tooth in relationship to the key in the pulley. I think it is quite adjustable in the software but thought I remember reading that it is best to be X degrees before TDC to avoid overlap with firing.